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Founded: 1608-1616Category: Palaces, manors and town halls in Germany
Historical period: Reformation & Wars of Religion (Germany)
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Schloss Holte is a baroque water castle from the 17th century located in the East Westphalian town of Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock. It is the successor to a water castle from the 14th century, which was destroyed by fire in 1556. Rebuilt as a hunting lodge from 1608 to 1616, incorporating existing building remnants, by Count Johann III. of East Frisia and his wife Sabina Catharina von Rietberg, it passed through marriage at the end of the 17th century to the Kaunitz family.
In 1822, Friedrich Ludwig Tenge acquired the neglected property and converted it into a residence for his son-in-law. Simultaneously, the entrepreneur built an ironworks south of the castle. The estate is still privately owned by the Tenge-Rietberg family, who have established rental apartments in the castle. The buildings and the park are not open to the public.
The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.
The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.
The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.